Metalcraft breaks ground in new DeSoto industrial park Metalcraft breaks ground in new DeSoto industrial park By LAURIE JOHNSON The Daily News Metalcraft Inc. broke ground Thursday in Southaven on a 65,000-square-foot production facility in the Bob Pelts Industrial Park. The Philadelphia-based company, a division of Southwark Metal Manufacturing, will be the first tenant to build in the 98-acre park, located west of U.S. Highway 51 at Stateline Road and Stanton Road. Jim Hardeman, general manager for Metalcraft, said the new facility is expected to be completed by March 1. The company planned to expand the building to 150,000 square feet within several years of operation, he said. "Our initial hiring will be between 50 and 60 initially, and we will have about 100 employees within a year," he said. Metalcraft is a manufacturer of galvanized sheet metal products used in residential heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Bob Pelts, developer of the project, said additional plans for the industrial park also included a 12,000-square-foot retail center at Stateline and Stanton. An additional 20,000-square-foot building will be built on the east side of the site. Within three years, Pelts said he expected the park to include more than 50 buildings, employing more than 1,000 people. Pelts said he also planned to develop 250 acres on the north side of Stateline Road in the future. Southaven Mayor Greg Davis said he was very pleased to see construction start in the new industrial park. "Southaven welcomes the Bob Pelts Industrial Park and its first tenant, Metalcraft," he said. "The phenomenal growth the city has experienced will continue, and this newest development will be a catalyst in that growth." The Metalcraft project marks the latest announcement of new construction planned for the Stateline Road corridor west of Highway 51. In June, Charlotte, N.C.-based Cogentrix, one of the countrys leading electric power plant developers and operators, announced plans to build a $300 million, 800-megawatt gas-powered electric generating plant north of Stateline on Tulane Road. The project, which is expected to be completed in 2002, marks the single largest investment into the county in its history. The city also plans to build a $35 million wastewater treatment plant in conjunction with development of the new plant. BTE Partners, a Tennessee general partnership, financed $9.8 million through Union Planters Bank, securing the loan with 10 acres on Shady Grove Road, according to a trust deed filed Friday in the Shelby County Registers Office. Link-Paras, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company, financed $2.2 million through InSouth Bank, securing the loan with 1.2 acres on Interstate 40 and Germantown Parkway, according to a trust deed filed Thursday. Rollingwood Ltd, a California-based limited partnership, purchased property on North Watkins Street from Elisabeth J. Adams, Allen J. Garner, Nancy J. Crutchfield and Adam G. Jett Jr., for $1.1 million, according to a special warranty deed filed Wednesday. L&L Arlington Associates, L.P., a Tennessee limited partnership, financed $4.4 million through Peoples Bank, securing the loan with Lots 1-197 and Lots 199-207 in Section B of Arlington Station Subdivision, according to a trust deed filed July 2. Susan Kosten and Judy Rosenblum financed $1.6 million through Trust One Bank, securing the loan with Lots 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 in the Sycamore View Plaza Subdivision on Summer Avenue, according to a trust deed filed July 6. CASA Group LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, purchased property at 6296 Lakeview Drive for $14.4 million from Consolidated Apartment Ventures, L.P., (successor by merger to Arbors of Hickory Ridge Associates Ltd., a Tennessee limited partnership), according to a special warranty deed filed Wednesday.